2020 Cyprus Country Report

Sector Profile
2020 has
taken an
unexpected
turn due to
the Covid-19
pandemic.
Tourism, however, is resilient.
It will come back. It is a great
opportunity to change and
start seeing tourists not as
numbers with a dollar sign
on their head, but as guests
we welcome into our homes
and whose visit will be an
experience for both host and
guest. The tourism comeback
must choose a more sustainable
and responsible route
to tackle the climate crisis.
Philippos Drousiotis
Chairman
Cyprus Sustainable
Tourism Initiative (CSTI)
3.97
million tourists
in 2019
€2.683bn
in revenue
DIVERSE OFFERING
Although Cyprus is rebranding its image, there is
no doubt a key element of Cyprus’ appeal remains
its ideal weather of 340 days of sunshine and its
pristine beaches – which are consistently ranked
as some of the best in Europe for their high environmental
and quality standards. Cyprus has
66 Blue Flag beaches and one Blue Flag Marina,
renowned eco-labels awarded to beaches and
marinas across the globe that meet specific standards.
In 2019, Cyprus was lauded with the title of
having the best bathing water quality in the EU,
according to the European Commission and the
European Environment Agency (EEA). Over the
years, the island has consistently ranked at the top
of this list for excellent water quality.
The Mediterranean lifestyle and expanding
tourism offering of Cyprus have strengthened its
status in the global tourism market as a destination
of choice for travellers of all budgets – with
accommodation ranging from rustic retreats and
vast Airbnb options to bespoke hotels and luxury
resorts. With further development of its niche
segments, Cyprus is set to also attract a more
diverse demographic of tourists interested in experiencing
authentic island life and exploring the
country’s gastronomy and history. Cyprus boasts
world-renowned archaeological sites, such as the
ruins of the ancient city-kingdom of Kourion and
the famous Paphos mosaics. In 2018, the Cyprus
antiquities department announced that it would
be collaborating with the Getty Conservation
Institute in Los Angeles to look at better conservation
management of the World Heritage sites
of Nea Pafos and the Tombs of the Kings, and to
find ways of improving the visitor experience at
these sites – a move that has been welcomed by
both tourism officials and tourists.
Cyprus has also long been a popular winter
training venue for international sports groups
and athletes, as well as a destination for various
sports events, ranging from rallies to cycling and
sailing. The island attracts thousands of athletes
and hundreds of teams every year – mainly in
the winter season – proving that this niche area
of tourism still has considerable growth potential
if developed properly. The country’s Tourism
Ministry has identified sports as an integral part
of Cyprus’ tourism product and is currently drafting
new incentive schemes to attract more events,
teams and athletes to the island. An estimated
50,000 divers visit the island each year, many
attracted by the opportunity to discover one of
the top five dive sites in the world, the Swedish
cargo vessel Zenobia, which sank off the coast of
Larnaca in 1980. The island is creating more artificial
diving reefs off the coasts of major tourist
areas across the island to attract more divers. In
addition, golf tourism is growing steadily thanks
to the island’s year-round good weather and four
18-hole international standard courses and exceptional
facilities.
LOVE AND WELLBEING
Renowned as the mythical birthplace of
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, Cyprus has
become a popular destination for wedding
tourism, which contributes up to €100 million
a year to the economy. The number of destination
weddings to Cyprus is around 8,000 per year,
of which the majority are from the UK market,
followed by neighbouring Israel and Lebanon.
Russia, Poland, Ukraine and the UAE/MEA
countries constitute growing markets and efforts
are underway to also promote Cyprus as the ideal
location for destination weddings and events
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